Roman Legacy, episode one
by andrnutik
Summary: Five years after being stripped of own self and her destiny, Livia returns to Rome in desire to regain everything Xena forced the Champion to give up - her titles, her armies, her dignity and a safe place within this world, yet Octavious, having been greatly wronged by the Roman, believes it to be a chance to show where vengeance lies in a scorned Roman soul.


_NOTE FROM THE WRITER: Roman Legacy is my own imagined virtual show about Livia's story, for I believe there is much to say about this wonderful woman, yet the actual show only told us three per cent of her existence. She was raised in Rome, became a Champion and then betrayed by the same people she was expected to love. Upon arrival, she was placed in a family, and she grew up under the shadow of wars. My goal is tell Livia's story, while showing her under a different light - she is Roman, indeed, but she is also human, and that is what defines her. _

Episode One: **Shadow of Rome**

The sun crossed the sky while shadows drove to corners and grew smaller with each moment passed, but the girl stood by the border, watching flames of lives fill the heart of the city of Rome, her skin slightly being caressed by the wind on the high balcony in her domus. She missed it, as much as she could, as much as it was possible to miss the warmth of own home and the remembered life she once possessed within the nation. _Was it all lost now_ - she questioned own self, yet hoping within soul that everything could return to dearest embrace and everything the woman once had would be hers again - and more. She was Livia, and such a name would rezone through minds and memories for an eternity.

Deep reflection was broken by the creek of both wooden doors of her chambers, and as the girl turned her red-haired head around to witness the unwelcomed guest, she found way to allow an honest smile to catch her lips. "Marcus." Livia whispered to herself yet aloud, barely enough for the man by the doors to hear her, before she repeated the name, pronouncing it loudly and carefully, as if in fear to be mistaken. "You have grown." She continued, but neither of them moved closer to one another, watching each other from a distance, hoping to retrieve what they once had - that closeness that allowed them to kill their mother as one. It has been a few years since they last saw each other, and by the time Livia returned home, she has lost everything: her lineage, her dignity, her reputation, her future and even her son - Tiberius, the boy that stayed behind in Rome and was raised by Livia's brother - Marcus. And there was a time when he was the only man, the soul figure in her life that made her feel safe, as if nothing in the world would turn against her - his touch, his embrace, his words had medicinal warmth - their existence once made no sense, when they both yet believed to be siblings.

But time has changed now, and so everything around them as well. Nothing was the same, and as much as she had hoped it to be - nothing will ever return to the way it was. Not Rome, not her, not him.

"Do you believe in fate, brother?" Livia finally asked, before turning her head to one side and closing her eyes in fear. "If I am yet allowed to call you that."

"I will always be your brother." Marcus replied, this time stepping closer to the girl with each word; one leg after another, his steps moved forcefully towards the one he has always loved more than anyone else in this world.

"We can't be saved. But be can be avenged." She whispered, before feeling his touch upon her cheek, the soft reminder of her old self and the Rome she once knew so well.

"No." Marcus answered, as his head denied in motion. "You are my sister, love, and that shall not change." He pushed up his fingers against her chin and forced her to look up into his eyes, gaze to gaze, as if their spirits were just one. "No matter what Augustus says, no matter what they all pretend. We know what we are!"

"Augustus..." Livia sighed as words escaped mouth in disgust and disappointment. "A title I allowed him to gain, for before my presence, he was but Octavius. Look at him now - as if Caesar reborn, a God personified. And now..." Her gaze turned to side in a thoughtful manner. "...now I must please the Lord, scrape his back and floor and pretend to love him, as if he were my own father, my own soul and life. Even though, mind must admit that..." The woman cut short her own thought, as if in fear of what it might reveal at this terrible hour, but Marcus's touch upon her face reassured her and put her at ease; his touch always had such an effect.

"I hate him." Marcus spoke out before Livia could even say anything else. His lips getting closer to hers as thoughts escaped mind, his hands keeping her by his side. "He is no longer the man he once was."

"He never was a kind boy." Explanation did not wait to follow, after which the girl approached the man and returned in kind his warmth, lips to lips, a kiss that had no sibling intentions. Just a slight touch upon lips, a mere second of proof of love to the man that stood beside her ever since she was brought to Rome as a child. Marcus was...a forbidden love hidden in her own villa - a man that never raised a hand or voice against her, and such a poisoned apple had dangerous outcomes, incest itself was a forbidden notion. They once loved each other more than Apollo could ever love Diana, yet the both of them never acted upon it, never gave reason to the Dictator to doubt their true nature, or their allegiance. They denied each other what a hunted soul of desire could never escape in its mind - carnal motions, flesh and embrace.

His warm fingers moved slowly from her cheeks to her neck, caressing wantigly her flesh, drinking into her gaze, as his lips were but an inch from hers, smelling her scent and returning the smile that was within his heart. "Today, sister..." Marcus began as a grin flashed across his lips. "...is your day."

Upon dawn the escort arrived to the villa - ten armed men as personal guard to the one that was once known as Champion of Rome, and her brother. Dressed in silk and satin, Livia wore a bright purple dress that entoured her slim body, showing perfectly her womanly curves, her breasts were revealed for temptation and hair tied in golden locks around her head, with magnificent rings and bracelets upon fingers and arms. The night was her gift, and she was to stand tall and high as shadows bowed beside her, without a glimpse of doubt as to Octavius' true intentions. One motion after another, as ears caught the echo of her name being summoned - proclaimed to all guests present, Livia walked into the domus of the host, gripping tightly into her brother's arm. Marcus felt her shiver, her fear, and just as quick, paused his palm above hers. It was to be alright. She was home now.

And yet, even before her presentation to the hall, the woman's greenish eyes caught the sight of a person she knew well, as he stepped closer to the couple and forced, with but a look and nod, make Marcus let go of Livia's arm and offer it to the man - to Octavius. He wanted to present her himself, as if a prize won on a battlefield, and that was the second when the Champion realized that the party was not in her name, but in her punishment.


End file.
